26 - Theatre of War

It is not fair that such an amazing book has a cover that makes it impossible for me to read it in public.  But jokes aside, Theatre of War was a breath of fresh air that gave me renewed confidence in the VNAs after a couple underwhelming entries in a row.

After the events of Legacy, Benny is spending time doing some archaeology field work, which takes her to the planet Menaxus.  Here we get a wonderful bit of commentary on cultural relativism: the planet is of particular interest to the Heletians, who only consider a race to be “civilized” if its culture values the theatrical arts.  Obviously this is silly, but who are we to judge?  Aliens would likely consider our own cultural norms to be just as arbitrary or bizarre. Before long, Benny learns that the theatre ruins at the dig are a complete fabrication, a trap meant to lure in the Heletians with the promise of a lost play.  Once a projector is brought back to the heart of the empire, the characters in the play jump into reality, helping the Heletians’ enemies topple their foes.  The play in question (The Good Soldiers) itself contains a fictional play, which means that there are upwards of three levels of fiction going on at some points in this book!

I always love it when one of these novels experiments with changes to the format, and Theatre of War does not disappoint.  The book is explicitly divided into three Acts, with each chapter starting with a little excerpt from an archaeological text.  Given that most of the book involves Benny poring through historical documents, the reader being able to take in the same information that she does adds a lot to the narrative.  But while it’s new in a lot of ways, the main plot of Theatre of War feels very familiar; without the extra baggage of Braxiatel and New Ace, the Menaxan theatre plot would fit right in with surreal adventures such as Battlefield or The Greatest Show in the Galaxy on-screen.  Richards perfectly tunes the supporting cast to allow both companions to shine; while Benny finds kinship with a group of archaeologists, Ace soon finds herself working with a company of soldiers on the same expedition.  The intricate scheme that threatens all of their lives was orchestrated by the mysterious Irving Braxiatel, who owns a vast private collection of academic information.  Braxiatel, who is a Mycroft Holmes sort of character, has a history with the Doctor, and his morally gray antics were a highlight of this novel.

I don’t think I’ve seen a VNA successfully juggle so many settings and subplots while keeping all of them interesting!  I can’t recommend this one enough, and it’s probably the best showing of Bernice Summerfield so far.  Onward to a Holmesian tale in All-Consuming Fire!